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20 Million Miles to Earth
| running time = 82 min. | country = USA | language = English | budget = | gross revenue = | preceded by = | followed by = }} 20 Million Miles to Earth is an American science fiction film directed by Nathan Juran. It was released theatrically in the United States in June, 1957. Produced by Charles H. Schneer and Morningside Productions, it is noted for being a provincial film for stop-motion special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, who created the alien monster. The plot of the film involves the return trip of the United States' first manned space voyage to Venus. The crew returns with a sample of an alien life form, but after the spacecraft crashes off the shore of Sicily, the alien escapes and grows into a gigantic monster that terrorizes the country. Plot A Sicilian fisherman and a young boy named Pepe are in their boat in the Mediterranean when a rocket ship crash lands into the sea. They paddle towards the ship and rescue two surviving crewmembers. The first is Colonel Robert Calder, commander of the vessel, and the second is his first mate, Sharman. While the fisherman helps the Americans out of their doomed vessel, Pepe finds a strange looking canister and steals it. They paddle back to the mainland of Sicily and the Americans are taken to the hospital. Reports get back to America where Army general A.D McIntosh prepares to collect the ship's survivors and their findings. He brings with him a man named Judson Uhl. Back in Sicily, Pepe cracks open the canister and a viscous, substance spills out of it. Inside the ooze is a strange looking alien shape. Feeling as if this is an important find he takes the thing to Doctor Leonardo of the Giardino Zoo of Rome. Pepe asks the Doctor for 200 Lira for the substance and the old man promptly pays him. Meanwhile, Leonardo's daughter Marisa, who is studying to be a doctor, attends to her patients, Calder and Sharman. Sharman is in his death-throes and Calder tries his best to revive him. This fails however, and practically leads to an altercation between Calder and Leonardo. Marisa discovers that the astronauts have just returned from the planet Venus and they have brought back an alien life form. It is their hope that by studying the life form, they may discover a means to alter Venus' atmosphere so that it will safe for humans. Marisa returns home to her father's trailer and he shows her the substance. The little critter trapped inside claws his way out and begins emitting a string of hooting noises. It is only about a eight inches tall at this point. Amazed, Doctor Leonardo scoops him up and places him inside of a wooden cage on the back of his trailer. The two decide to take the creature to the Giardino Zoo in Rome for study. At this time, the army arrives to meet up with Calder. They question the fishermen about the rocket crash and Pepe reveals that he once had the canister. After negotiating for a small amount of money, he tells him that he gave the canister to Doctor Leonardo. Calder and the others track down the Leonardos halfway to Messina. By this point, the creature has grown in size and is almost as tall as a regular human. It breaks out of the trailer and attacks Marisa. Marisa survives unscathed, but the alien runs off into the woods. Calder asks Leonardo where it took off to, and the older man points him to a barn. Inside the barn, a farmer's dog comes out and begins tormenting the creature and it takes off for higher ground for safety. Army soldiers burst in and find the critter skittering about through the rafters. Calder remarks that the creature is only dangerous when provoked. They begin prodding at it with a pitchfork, hoping to draw it down so they can contain it inside a wooden crate. After about two or three pokes with the pitchfork, the monster leaps down and rips into a local farmer. He then takes off into the Messina countryside. Calder informs the Italian police force that the creature exists on a diet of sulfur and is susceptible to high volts of electricity. They radio in for helicopters to drop bags of sulfur about the place in order to lure the creature to a predetermined location. Once doing so, they drop an electrically charged net over top of him. He struggles to break free, but it ultimately brings him down. Calder and the others pack him up and prepare to take him to Rome. Back at the Giardino zoo, the Venusian has grown to a size roughly thirty-five feet tall. They keep him sedated by way of electric jolts through his nervous system. Too much electricity will kill him, but too little will wake him up. Something malfunctions and the Venusian wakes up. He easily tears through his bindings and wanders out into the street. As he get out into the sunshine, an elephant breaks loose and begins attacking him. The two titans wrestle about through the streets of Rome crushing anything that gets into their path. At one point the elephant is knocked over, crushing hapless pedestrians. The alien grabs the elephant and bites down hard into its neck. Colonel Calder decides to ram the monster with his car, but this only succeeds in making it even angrier. The monster escapes into the Tiber River. The Italian police officials begin bombing the river with grenades and mortar fire. The Venusian eventually comes up through a bridge and begins tearing into everyone again. They chase him to the Roman Coliseum where they prepare for the final showdown. The Venusian scales the outer edges of the walls until he reaches the top of the Coliseum. Army tanks and soldiers surround the area and open fire on the alien. One soldier fires several shots with a bazooka, weakening the structure of the Coliseum. The stone around the Venusian’s feet crumbles just enough so that he falls down to his death. Witnesses gather around, staring soulfully at the dead alien. Cast Notes & Trivia * The original script treatment, as well as numerous reference books and reviews have taken to calling the Venusian, Ymir. The name is never actually used in the movie however. Ymir is also the name of a figure from Norse mythology. Harryhausen was reluctant to include the name in the film out of fear that viewers might mis-hear it as Emir, a royal title in Arabic culture. * Ray Harryhausen makes a cameo appearance in the film as a man feeding peanuts to the elephant. Originally, an extra was to be cast to play the part, but when the actor failed to show up, Harryhausen took his place. * The sound effects used for the monster's roar are audio samples of a trumpeting elephant that are sped up and modulated at different rates and pitches. This sound effect was later used as a stock audio sample in various cartoon series throughout the 1960s and 70s. One of the best known uses of the "Ymir roar" was the flying dragon character Zok from the 1967-1969 animated series The Herculoids. * Outer space footage seen in the opening sequences were also used in The Day the Earth Stood Still. * In 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Legend Films released a colorized 50th Anniversary edition of the film to DVD. Harryhausen always wanted the original fim to be in color, but budgetary restraints prevented this back in 1957. According to Harryhausen, the 50th Anniversary edition is closer to his original vision of the film. The DVD includes audio commentary by Harryhausen as well as modern effects wizards such as Dennis Muran, Phil Tippett and producer Arnold Kunert. Animation Magazine External Links * * * 20 Million Miles to Earth at Wikipedia * 20 Million Miles to Earth at the Sci-Fi Block * 20 Million Miles to Earth at the Uranium Cafe * 20 Million Miles to Earth at Turner Classic Movies References ---- Category:Films Category:1957 films Category:Black and white films Category:Films with plot summaries Category:Columbia Pictures Category:Morningside Productions Category:Horror Film List